Filter.



No. 732,682. PAT'ETED JUNE 30, 1903. J. F. WITTEMANN.

FILTER.

APPLIGATIO'N'HLED TBB. 28'. 1900.

N0 MODEL.

Mmmm

m: Nunm's suns co. Hammam msiur'mfon n v.

UNITED STAT-iis v:Patented June 30,

PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB FREDERIC WITTEMANN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO v THE WITTEMANN COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FILTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Pate-nt No. 732,682, dated June 80, 1903.

vApplication filed February 28, 1900. Serial No. 6,869. y(No model.)

y To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

.lter elements built into a column.`

Beit known that LJACOBFREDERIC WITTE- MANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Filters; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in iilters or filtering-presses designed particularly for use in filtering beer and the like. In devices of this nature it is the generalaim to provide as large a filtering-surface as possible, and this is usually done by multiplying Heretofore each element has generally consisted of several separate parts which must be assembled and also separately handled when it is desired to change the filter, as by substituting a fresh filtering mass and adding new elements.

The objects of the presentinvention are to produce a filter composed of interchangeable elements all the parts of each ofwhich are combined in one lixed construction and to so construct these elements that when assembled the beer or other iiuid to be filtered has ready ingress to and egress from the lter,while the air, water, or other foreign matter in the lter is readily discharged.

To these ends and also to improve gener-v ally upon devices of the nature indicated my invention consists in the various features of improvement hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.-

In the accompanying drawings, Figure, l is a side view of a lter constructed in accord- 5o supported upon wheels b in the usual man- /mentsA in properposition.

ner. A top plate C fits upon the uppermost ilter element, and the said top and bottom plates are connected together in any desired and convenient manner to hold the ilter. ele- Preferably suitablepackingfrings o, areinterpos'ed between the various filter elements, and between the lower and upper ones of such elements and the bottom and top plates B C,respectively.

Each filter element comprisesva ring or frame section 1, having integ-ral therewith or secured thereunto by any suitable means and extending across the bottom of the inclosed circular space a ine screen 2 and a division-plate 3, the latter being-placed immediately above the former. Above this division-plate and supported by the corrugations or ribs 4 thereof is a second fine screen 5 also integral with or secured to the ring and extending across the inclosed circular space. This screen 5 is somewhat below the top of the ring, and in the space above' said screen is placed the fiber or other filtering Inaterial 6. Each ring has an'offset or projection formed with three openings 7, 8, and 9, respectively, the respective openings in the lvarious rings communicating with the correspace between the screens, thus connecting each opening with'said space.

The division-plates v3 j are of specialv construction. Each plate has a base or body portion 12, provided with a raised vsection 13, whose top is atallparts,.except theedgeadjacent the periphery of the body portion,'con nected by depending walls with said body portion, this raised section thus producing a radial channel 14 at the -lower side of the plate. A section of thebase-plate upon each side of this raised section is leftblank to produce channels 15 and 16 at the upper side of the plate, and upon the body portion are a series of ribs or corrugations 4, which are substantially the height of the raised section and extend from the outer edge of'one of the side channels tothe outer edge of the other, said ribs or corrugations being concentrically arranged or of any other suitable or preferred form and arrangement to produce between them channels 18. The outermost rib is set back from the periphery of the body portion, as is also the outermost edge of the raised section 13, whereby there is left a fiange 19 to extend under the ring and along its face, and thus permitthe attachment of the division-plate to said ring in any suitable manner. The division-plate is so positioned upon its ring that the ports 10 from the openings 7, 8, and 9 open, respectively, into the channels 15, 14, and 16. The combined openings 7 form an inlet-passage for the beer or other fluid. The openings S produce an outletpassage and the openings 9 produce a ventpassage, which last-mentioned passage preferably connects with an observation-glass D, Fig. 1, upon the outlet side of which is a draw-off pipe d, controlled by a cock CZ.

The various filter elements A being arranged in a pile, as previously explained, with the top plate C extending over and closing the openings 7 and 8 in the uppermost ring, the cock CZ is turned to open4 the drawof pipe, and the beer is admitted into the passage formed by the openings 7. This beer flows through the ports 10 into the channel 15 of each division-plate, thence through the channels 1S into the channels 16, and out into the passage formed by the openings 9, the course being indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2. The beer fiowing through the course mentioned drives ahead of it air, water, or other substances contained in the filter, and these pass out of the vent through the draw-off pipe (l. vWhen only clear beer appears in the observation-glass, the cock d is closed and the pressure of the inflowing beer forces the beer in the channels 15, 1G, and 18 of each division-plate upwardly through the screen 5 and filtering material supported directly above such plate, the beer emerging from the filtering fiber upwardly through the screen 2 and into the channel 14 of the next succeeding division-plate and thence through the ports 10into the outlet-passage formed by the openings 8.

There is thus produced a filter in which the beer is spread over a large surface and thereby quickly acted upon, said filter being constructed of interchangeable and removable elements each of which has its parts secured together, so that an individual element with its various parts can be handled as a whole without danger of separation or disarrangement of said parts. Furthermore, the screens immediately above the division-plates are supported by their respective plates in such manner as to permit free circulation of the beer below the filtering fiber, each portion of this filtering fiber being, when the various elements are assembled, held between the screens above one division-plate and below the division-plate next succeeding. Finally, the device is simple in construction and the parts are conveniently and compactly arranged.

While I have referred to my improved filter as a beer-filter, it will of course be understood that the same is equally adapted for the filtration of other substances, as water,

beverages generally, extracts, and, in fact,

anyliquid requiring filtration. It will also be understood that instead of using fiber as the filtering medium I can employ other substances or materials best adapted for the particular substance or liquid being filtered.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. As a new article of manufacture, a filtering element comprising in a unitary structure a frame having an inclosed space, and formed with an offset projection having a Vent-opening andan inlet and an outlet opening, and a division-plate extending across said space and formed to support screens above and below the same, to provide thereby an intermediate space between the plate and the said screens.

2. A filter element comprising a frame having an inclosed space, a division-plate secured within said frame extending across said space, screens secured to said frame above and below said division-plate, and filtering material supported upon the upper screen.

3. In a filter, a division-plate, a wall extending across a portion thereof, ribs upon said plate producing between them channels which extend from one side of said wall about the plate to the other side of said wall, there being provided at each side of said wall a portion not occupied by the said ribs, whereby channels are produced, a filtering material above said ribs, and inlet, vent, and out let passages which communicate respectively with the respective channels at the sides of the said wall and the filtering material, substantially as described.

4E. In a filter, a division-plate, a wall extending across a portion thereof, ribs upon said plate producing between them channels which extend from onc side of said wall about the plate to the other side of said wall, there being provided at each side of the wall a portion not occupied by the said ribs whereby channels are produced, a filtering material above said ribs, a second division-plate above said filtering material and having a raised section to produce a channel in conimunicatiou with said filtering material, said raised section also forming a wall of the nature of the first-mentioned wall, ribs and channels upon said second division-plate substantially as specified with relation to the first-mentioned division-plate, a filtering material above the ribs of the second-mentioned division-plate, and inlet, vent, and outlet passages communicating respectively with the respective channels at the sides of the said wall and raised section, and the channel formed by the raised section and the last IOO IIO

mentioned filtering material,substantially as y about the plate to the other side of the Wall, the said ribs not extending to said wall,where by-channels are left at each side thereof, the said ribs and the outerv end of the wall not extending to the periphery of the plate,where by there is produced upon theplate a iiange which extends beyond the periphery of the inclosed space and along the face of the framesection and is adapted to be secured thereto, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JACOB FREDERIC WITTEMANN.

Witnesses:

- V. C H. SCHWARZ,

L. J. ULRICH. 

